Ikuta Shrine

生田神社

The red shrine downtown that gave Kobe its name

Hours

Roughly 7am–5pm (later in summer; confirm on the official site)

Tickets

Free (fortunes, charms and goshuin extra)

Address

1-2-1 Shimoyamate-dori, Chuo-ku

Walk a block off Sannomiya's shopping streets and a vermilion gate tower suddenly appears. The households that served this shrine were called "kanbe", written 神戸, and that became the city's name. Behind the main hall the Ikuta Forest of camphor trees survives, and a few steps in the city noise drops away. It's known as a shrine for finding love, and many visitors try the water fortune, a slip whose writing appears when you float it in the pool.